Development on old potato store axed after clash with village's neighbourhood plan

The plans were rejected by council officers (Image: Local Democracy / North Kesteven District Council)

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Proposals to transform agricultural buildings into 15 homes have been been axed as they clash with a village's neighbourhood plans.

Applicants Munks Agricultural Contractors wanted to clear the site of the former Potato Store on Back Lane in Dunston to build the homes.

However, North Kesteven District Council officers pointed out that not only did the plans fail to meet a demand for "clear local community support" under the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan (CLLP), it was also not supported in the Dunston Neighbourhood Plan.

The village's plan only promotes small developments of no more than six dwelling per site and, like the CLLP, needs evidence of local support.

The application did not receive this support, with several residents of the village writing in to the council to object over the character of the development, its size and the increase in traffic it would bring to the small country lane that would access it.

North Kesteven Headlines

"The proposal, if approved, would therefore result in a significant level of development over and above the allowances… and which fails to evidence or benefit from the circumstances required to deviate from those provisions," said officers.

They argued the removal of existing agricultural buildings and the promise for three of the houses to be affordable did not meet the criteria to depart from planning policies.

(Image: Local Democracy / Google Maps)

They added the development would "appear as a stand-alone group of dwellings physically and visually separated from the north-western edge of the village".

"Although a large agricultural building currently occupies the application site, residential development and the resulting paraphernalia including formalised boundary treatments are considered markedly different in character," said the officers.

In documents before the council, the applicants said the disused site would "make the most efficient and effective use of the land given the sensitive location adjacent to the developed footprint of Dunston".